Text message plans

I don't text much, usually under 100/month, so I've been paying $5/200. When I ordered a new phone yesterday the only options offered were $20 for unlimited or pay-per-message. I found this rather irritating, even though I was planning to dropping the plan anyway, I thought I'd continue to be grandfathered in, if I wanted. I only got it last year.

Fortunately, most of my texts are to/from my wife's iPhone, so I shouldn't need a plan at all anymore, once iOS 5 is released next week with iMessage. At 20/msg I can exchange 25 for $5, and $20 will buy me 100. I'll probably use about 10.

Whatever they charge, it's still a ripoff. What is this, the 90's? There are many ways to send free messages now. What does everyone else think?

I went the opposite direction. I went from a smaller plan up to unlimited, because with the unlimited texting plan you also get free mobile to any mobile minutes. Since I almost never call anything but mobile lines, this means that I pretty much have unlimited voice now as well.

I would go with iMessage if I were you also. You can also look at WhatsApp, Kik, or any number of the thousands of other IM apps you can use with your friends that have smartphones. My brother, who uses a BB, and I used WhatsApp for awhile when he had limited texting.

I think the saving grace with the $20 unlimited plan, as mentioned, is the free mobile to mobile minutes. I would think most of us could pay the $20 for the text plan then lower our monthly minutes since we probably all call other people on their cell phones mostly anyway, and either end up paying the same as before or even less per month.

I went the opposite direction. I went from a smaller plan up to unlimited, because with the unlimited texting plan you also get free mobile to any mobile minutes. Since I almost never call anything but mobile lines, this means that I pretty much have unlimited voice now as well.

Exactly. I have 1600 minutes (1400 plus 200 bonus) on my 4-line family plan and we throw rollover minutes away every month. I have over 14,000 minutes banked thanks to AT&T's A-List and unlimited messaging/M2M to any carrier. I want to kick my minites plan down, but would lose the A-List.